Did you sustain an injury that left a big bruise that doesn’t seem to want to go away? Bruises can be painful to deal with and can affect your daily activities, including your workout routine, sport performance, and even your sleep, depending on where the bruise is located. If you are looking for a natural way to heal your bruise quickly and painlessly, you may want to look into using kinesiology tape as your solution. Before we go into the effect that kinesiology tape has on bruises, it’s important to go through what kinesiology tape is and how it works to help aid the healing process of your body.
What Is Kinesiology Tape?
Many people have not heard about kinesiology tape, but they have probably seen it being worn if they watch or participate in sports. Athletes will generally wear kinesiology tape on areas where they are susceptible to injuries, such as their shoulders, knees, wrists, ankles or knees. It can also be applied to the lower back, neck and calf areas for extra support.
Kinesiology tape was first introduced to the world in the 1970s when a Japanese chiropractor, Kenzo Kase, developed an innovative product that mimics the elasticity of human skin to help the body heal naturally. However, kinesiology tape didn’t become mainstream in the world of sports until 2008, when US gold medalist Kerri Walsh wore it on her shoulder during the 2008 Olympics. Nowadays, countless athletes from around the world will wear this colourful tape to help them recover from an injury, or wear them to perform better during their sport if they have a minor injury or inflammation in one of their joints.
How Does Kinesiology Tape Work?
Kinesiology tape is traditionally placed on certain areas of the body to open up a muscle to allow it to have its natural range of motion. The tape will be applied with a certain pattern, depending on the type of injury you have and the affected body part. The most common shapes that are applied to the body include “I,” “X,” “Y,” and “fan.” It is always recommended that you visit your physiotherapist before applying kinesiology tape for the first time so they can properly apply the tape on your body for the most effective results.
When you apply kinesiology tape to an injured part of your body, the tape will gently lift the skin over the inflamed muscle or tendon. This should create a big enough gap between the skin and injured muscle to allow for the lymphatic fluid to flow more freely to help heal the injury quicker.
Here are a few benefits you will receive when you apply kinesiology tape to your body:
- Increase natural healing elements: When you apply kinesiology tape to an injured body part, your endogenous analgesic system (the system that allows your body to heal naturally) accelerates for a quicker and more efficient healing process.
- Muscle support: Kinesiology tape helps muscles contract, even if the muscle is injured or weak. This allows athletes to continue using each muscle that is important to their sport without a high risk of becoming over-extended or cramped.
- Fixes problems with joints: When a muscle is cramped or inflamed, it affects your joints and its range of motion. Applying kinesiology tape will help loosen the muscle and help gain back the joint’s function.
- Fluids in your body can flow freely: Your blood and lymphatic fluid circulation is negatively affected when you have a chemical build-up or inflammation in an injured muscles. When you wear kinesiology tape, it opens up the passageways to help these fluids to flow more freely in the affected area.
Kinesiology tape has been used for many years to help athletes with their injured or inflamed muscles, but can it help reduce the effects of bruising as well?
Can Kinesiology Tape Help Reduce Bruising?
A bruise is formed when you sustain internal bleeding due to breaking capillaries and small veins that are found under your skin. A bruise is usually something that you don’t have to worry about, but if you do sustain a bigger bruise, it can affect your daily activities for many weeks.
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As mentioned above, when you apply kinesiology tape to your skin, it lifts the skin up from the muscle or joint, allowing the fluids in your body to flow more freely. When you apply kinesiology tape to a bruise, it allows the lymphatic fluid in your body to easily travel to the bruised area and clean out the internal bleeding quicker. For the best results, it is recommended that you apply the kinesiology tape with 0% stretch to allow the tape to have better tension when keeping the skin lifted from the muscle. When applying the kinesiology tape to your bruise, make sure that you use thin strips rather than one big piece. You can also apply the tape in a criss-cross shape for bigger bruises.
Author’s Bio
Colin Hegarty is a content writer for BreezeMaxWeb that helps businesses showcase their brand through enticing copy. When he’s not working, you can find him playing net in a local beer league or biking around the city.
